Our Board Members

Jennie Weiss Block, OP

is a Dominican laywoman and a practical theologian. She has served as chief advisor to Dr. Paul Farmer since 2009, and was his chief of staff in his role as United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for Haiti under President Bill Clinton. Working closely with Dr. Farmer, Dr. Block assisted in the relief and recovery efforts in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. She oversaw the publication of two of Dr. Farmer's most recent books: Haiti After the Earthquake (in which she authored a chapter), and To Repair the World: Paul Farmer Speaks to the Next Generation. She is the co-editor of In the Company of the Poor: Conversations with Dr. Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez.

Nancy Dorsinville

served as Senior Policy Advisor for the UN Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti (OSE) under President Bill Clinton. Originally from Haiti, Ms. Dorsinville is an anthropologist and was a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health. She served as director of HIV prevention education for the city of New York. She has done extensive field work with Dr. Paul Farmer and continues to be part of his Global Health teaching team at Harvard University.

Paul Farmer

is a medical anthropologist and physician and co-founder of Partners In Health. He is the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard University and the Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Farmer’s work focuses on community-based treatment strategies for infectious diseases in resource-poor settings, health and human rights, and the role of social inequalities in determining disease distribution and outcomes. Dr. Farmer is the United Nations Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Community Based Medicine.

Dr. Farmer has authored eight books and is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Margaret Mead Award from the American Anthropological Association, the American Medical Association’s Outstanding International Physician (Nathan Davis) Award, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and, with his PIH colleagues, the Hilton Humanitarian Prize.

David Fischer

is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greif Corporation, a world leader in the production of industrial packaging products and services with manufacturing facilities located in over 50 countries. Under Mr. Fischer’s leadership, Greif has pioneered the development of the “Pack H20, an innovative water backpack that provides a clean, easy-to-carry means of transporting and storing household water for use by women and children in the developing world.

Bill Horan "Papa Bill"

is the CEO of Operation Blessing International. He oversees the operation of OBI in the United States and around the world, bringing with him more than 25 years of business and international relations expertise. Under his direction, Operation Blessing has become a multi-million-dollar-a-year humanitarian organization that strategically provides disaster relief, medical aid, hunger relief, clean water orphan care and community development around the world. “Papa Bill,” as the Zanmi Beni children call him, has been instrumental in developing sustainable on-site projects on our campus.

Laurie Nuell

is a social worker, community activist and philanthropist. She lives in Miami and is active in numerous organizations. She was the co-founder of the Jay Weiss Center for Health Equity at the Miller School of Medicine and has served on board of the Public Health Trust of Jackson-Memorial Hospital and The Children’s Trust. She was the Board Chair of Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart. She is a frequent visitor to Haiti where she is known as the Godmother of Zanmi Beni.

Loune Viaud

is an internationally-known human rights activist and a tireless advocate for women and children. Born in Haiti, Ms. Viaud pioneered Central Haiti’s first women’s health center and developed women’s literacy projects and scholarship programs for girls.

Ms. Viaud is the director of strategic planning and operations at Zanmi Lasante, where she oversees medical, educational, and social programs that provide services to hundreds of thousands of people throughout Haiti. As the founding director of Zanmi Beni, she is actively involved in day-to-day operations and she knows, loves, and cares for each child as her own.

Ms. Viaud has been honored by many poor communities in Haiti over the years. She also received a Peace and Justice Award from the Cambridge Peace Commission in 2000, was named one of the “Women of the Year” by Ms. magazine, and was selected as the 2002 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Laureate.

"Ever since getting involved with Zanmi Beni I have felt a profound sense of responsibility for the children there. When I visit ZB now I am filled with a sense of peace. I know that we cannot save all the kids in Haiti or in the world, but we are saving some. Maybe the light that emanates from the love and energy at ZB will help others see what can be done."
- Bill Horan | President and CEO, Operation Blessing

Photography

The images on this website are the property of Friends of Zanmi Beni, Inc.

Contact Us

For more information about The Zanmi Beni Foundation and how you can get involved, please contact us at: info@friendsofzb.org